


intro to business

by patricksdavid



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Canon Dialogue, Fluff, M/M, Oh no there's only one bed, Pining, Sharing a Bed, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:14:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22217605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patricksdavid/pseuds/patricksdavid
Summary: David signs up for a 9 am Intro to Business class and finds himself focusing more on the cute boy sitting next to him than the actual class. A college au featuring everyone's favorite pining idiots.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Comments: 41
Kudos: 215





	1. one

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Afkd98](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Afkd98/gifts).



> Thank you to Abby, who inspired this piece and let me yell about it to her for two days. I also stole her apartment layout for this fic so thanks for that too. I know nothing about business and just used words I heard Alexis say in the show so enjoy these idiots being dumb. Also, for the texting portion: David is italics and Patrick is bold. I think it's pretty easy to follow but maybe I'm biased who knows. Okay I'll shut up so you can start reading.

David Rose is not a morning person. Everyone knows this. Well, everyone except the menace in the registrar’s office that scheduled the only Intro to Business lecture at 9 am. And sure, maybe David is the idiot who willingly signed up for this class, but still. 9 am is the absolute earliest he allows anyone to see him, but at least the on-campus Starbucks is close enough to his first class that he can get coffee and be a somewhat decent person at this ungodly hour. Of course, every other student has the same plan, and by the time he walks out of the coffee shop with his complex coffee order it’s already 9:01 and he is officially late for his first class of the semester. He rushes over to the business building and locates his class quickly, but it’s still 9:06 by the time he opens the door. Since the universe clearly hates him, the lecture hall is one where the doors open at the front of the room and he can’t just sneak into the back like he had planned. The professor pays little attention to David as he sighs and sits in the first empty spot he sees in the front row between a guy who seems to be on the verge of falling asleep and another guy who looks way too bright for the hour. He’s kind of cute, in that unassuming kind of way. His light reddish-brown hair is curled, giving him an almost angelic look that’s offset by midrange denim and a simple blue shirt. He gives David a wide smile when he slides into the seat next to him and in that moment he reminds David of a golden retriever. A very cute, but very bright and energetic golden retriever. David tries to clear his head and focus on the lecture, but it’s just syllabus day and it’s early and maybe his brain isn’t fully functioning because he keeps thinking about the boy next to him who smiles widely at strangers like it’s nothing.

“Hey, sorry, did I miss anything important?” David whispers to the boy next to him.

“Yeah, right before you walked in we all decided that the next person to come in would be our scapegoat for anything bad that happens this semester. So congrats, man.”

There’s something in his tone and David can’t tell if he likes it or not, but the professor is moving on to the next section of the syllabus and claiming that it’s all vital information, and the boy next to David turns his attention back to the front and writes in his notebook while David is still frozen in place. He can make out the faintest smirk on the boy’s face and he huffs in exasperation before pulling his own notebook out and taking notes.

The next 40 minutes seem to drag on, but finally, the professor is ending her lecture and encouraging the class to “reach out with other students and find a buddy or two for the semester,” and while David greets that sentence with an eye roll, the adorable boy next to him seems to perk up.

“Hi, I’m Patrick,” he says, holding his hand out to David.

“David,” he replies curtly (because it’s still only 9:45 in the morning and he’s but a shell of a human being even with his morning coffee running through his system), but something about this boy-about Patrick-makes him want to keep talking.

“Do you mind being my buddy this semester? That seems like something you’d totally be into, right? Sharing your number with strangers.”

David rolls his eyes yet again, but he can’t help the small smile that comes too. “While usually I reserve giving my number out to seedy people in dark clubs, I guess giving it to you won’t be the worst possible thing. As long as you don’t send unsolicited dick pics at three in the afternoon, we should be good.”

Patrick seems unfazed by everything that came out of David’s mouth and instead just quirks his head to the side a bit and continues to smile at him. “No, no unsolicited dick pics at three in the afternoon. I have a class then. But would four be okay? Or is it a no to dick pics in general?”

David flounders. Is Patrick trying to flirt with him? No? Right? “Okay, you’re either very impatient or extremely sure of yourself.”

“Threw you a bit of a change-up there, huh?”

“I don’t know what that means, I don’t play cricket.” Patrick laughs at this and David has no idea why. He’s not trying to be funny. He really just doesn’t know what the fuck Patrick is talking about.

“Okay, David. Well, how about this: here’s my number. You can use it if you want, but I promise there will be no unsolicited pictures sent your way. But it’s your loss really because my parents just got the cutest dog and I love showing her off.” Patrick writes his number on a piece of paper, tears it out of his notebook, and hands it to David. David accepts it without much fight and puts it in his pocket without looking at it.

“Okay, well this was fun, but my next class starts in ten minutes, so I should really go.”

“Ah, yeah you probably don’t want to be late to two classes in a row. Bye, David,” he says as he turns and walks out the door, leaving David standing in the same spot watching him leave. 

David shakes his head and pulls the slip of paper out of his pocket to save Patrick’s number. Not that he ever really plans on using it. Just to have it. He tries not to think about Patrick’s smile as he rushes to his next class of the day.

\--

David ends up using Patrick’s number sooner than he thought. Yet again, he is stuck in line at Starbucks waiting for his coffee and watching as the clock ticks closer to nine. Groaning, he reaches for his phone and clicks on Patrick’s name. Before he can overthink anything, he sends a text.

_why is the line at starbucks always so long_

_i can’t be late again do you know how embarrassing it was last time_

_people were looking at me, patrick_

_oh yeah it’s david. from intro to business. sorry_

Before he can totally freak out about quadruple texting someone he just met two days ago, he sees the three dots that indicate that Patrick is typing.

**Hi David. Nice to see that you did actually put my number in my phone. I’m making your contact name “David- Business Buddy” because I feel like you would hate that. Also, why not just leave earlier and not risk being late? Or just make your own coffee and bring it?**

**__** _i know we just met but if you actually make that my contact name i will drop out of university and it will all be your fault_

_also just be glad i’m even making it to class somewhat on time_

_i am not a morning person_

**You’ll never see my phone so I could just tell you I changed it when I didn’t. Why take a 9 am if you’re not a morning person?**

**__** _only intro to business they had this semester_

_got my coffee_

_fuck i’m gonna be late_

**Don’t worry, I’ll save you a seat.**

**__** _thanks_

David barely makes it to class on time. He’s actually a minute late, but the professor hasn’t started yet, so he’s calling it on time. He spots Patrick in the same spot as last time and he waves at David when he walks in. For some reason, David feels giddy when he sees Patrick. He slides into the same seat as last time and turns to Patrick.

“Thanks for saving me a seat.”

“No problem. That’s what business buddies are for.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re joking, but I’m gonna need you to never say the phrase ‘business buddies’ again. It makes us sound like preschoolers.”

“Okay, David. But hey, you were only a minute late today. Shaved five minutes off from last time.”

David is about to retort when the professor clears her throat and begins the lecture. David pulls out a sticky note from his backpack and writes “am I still late even if I got here before class started?” and passes it to Patrick subtly. He watches the other boy smile and roll his eyes as he reads the note before writing something and passing it back. David looks down to see that Patrick wrote: “Class starts at 9 and you were here at 9:01 so yeah, still late.” Now it’s David’s turn to smile and shake his head, but his attention is drawn back to the professor moving on to the next slide. Fuck. He wasn’t paying attention.

\--

The next few weeks of classes pass rather uneventfully. David is usually a few minutes late and Patrick always saves him a seat. They text outside of class and talk for a few minutes after class until they absolutely have to leave in order to make it to their next class on time and it’s nice. There are times where David can’t tell if they’re flirting or not, but he shakes it off, rationalizing that no business major who wears mid-range denim would be into him. Unfortunately for David, he is into Patrick. A lot. He finds himself thinking about Patrick more often than he thinks about his business class and he’s nervous about the first test coming up next week. He’s doing well in the class and finds the idea of running a small business interesting, but he’s more focused on the design and aesthetic aspects, hence why he’s an art major. All the business talk isn’t fully clicking, but he knows that Patrick knows what’s going on. He’s always taking notes and answering questions, and not in a show-offy way, but in a way that makes it seem like he really cares about the material and knows what’s going on. David hates that he finds it attractive. By the time class is over, David realizes that he spent most of the lecture either thinking about Patrick or worrying about not knowing the material. Patrick must notice something is wrong when David is less chatty while they pack up their bags.

“Hey, is everything okay?”

David sighs. “I think so? I’m just really worried about the test next week. I feel like I hardly know anything.” 

“Do you want to go over the material together this week? We could study together?” Patrick seems hesitant and David hates himself for throwing himself at Patrick.

“You don’t have to do that. I’ll be fine. I just really need to study.”

“I want to. It could be fun.”

“Okay. If you’re sure. I could really use the help.”

“Of course. Listen, I have to run to make it to my next class, but I’ll text you, okay? See you later David.”

“Bye Patrick.”

David rushes to his next class and by the time he’s sliding into his seat his phone buzzes in his pocket.

**Did you want to come over this weekend to study? I live on campus. Or we could meet at the library or something.**

**__** _yeah that works_

_is saturday okay?_

**Yeah. Let’s say 8 am?**

**I’m kidding. I know you’re not a morning person. How’s four pm?**

**__** _a much better time_

_i would’ve accepted a failing grade if you really wanted to study at 8 am_

**Okay, David. I’ll text you my address later, but class is starting now. Good luck with your portrait today!**

David smiles at his phone. He hates that Patrick does that. Just wishes him luck with whatever art project he’s working on in this class. He hates how much Patrick pays attention, how much Patrick sees him. But he hates most of all that he doesn’t actually hate it. That he actually kind of likes it. He puts his phone back in his pocket and pulls out his art supplies as his next class begins.

\--

Saturday afternoon arrives too quickly for David but before he knows it he’s walking over to Patrick’s apartment on campus and debating for the fifteenth time if his sweater is okay. He wore one of his favorites: a black Neil Barrett with a large white lightning bolt on the front. Something about it gives him confidence, which he really needs today. He steps up to apartment B13 and texts Patrick that he’s outside. It takes less than a minute until Patrick is opening his door and welcoming David inside the place. The first thing David notices is Patrick himself. He’s dressed in his regular mid-range denim that makes his ass look far better than such cheap jeans deserve, but today he’s wearing a dark blue sweater. He looks adorable and David just wants to run his hands through Patrick’s curls as he kisses him senseless. He shakes the thought aside as he looks around the apartment. It’s a simple layout with four bedrooms branching off from the main living room/kitchen area. It’s not too small and it’s fairly clean. Patrick’s pointing out random things around the apartment and David loves listening to him talk.

“I think Mutt and Miguel are out, but Ted is still here. Last I checked he was in his room researching something about old turtles? I’m not really sure.” Patrick points to the door decorated in animal and puns and David assumes that must be Ted’s room.

“Did you say Mutt? Like someone literally named their child that?”

“It gets worse. His last name is Schitt.”

David’s arms start flailing on their own accord. “Oh my God, Patrick, you have to be joking. Nobody in their right mind names their child Mutt Schitt.”

“I met his parents on move-in day and let’s just say that they’re definitely something. I’m pretty sure they tried to have sex in one of these rooms.”

David recoils at that. “Should I be scared for you?”

Patrick laughs. “Probably. But they’re not here, so I try not to think about them. Regardless, are you ready to study?”

David nods reluctantly but Patrick just smiles as he leads them to the table where he has his textbook and other supplies laid out. David thinks the way he’s organized his highlighters is cute.

“Okay, so how do you typically like to study?”

“Uh, does cramming an hour before the test count?”

“Technically yes, but it’s not a very effective way to retain the information.”

“Okay, but who says I want to retain this information?”

“Well, you took the class for a reason, didn’t you? So why does an art major sign up for an intro to business class?”

“It’s silly, but lately I’ve had this idea of starting my own store? It would be a general store, but also a specific store? I don’t know, I just like the idea of creating something of my own that would sell locally made products and have this community feel to it. But I also want it to be nice and organized and I find myself focusing more on the aesthetics instead of the actual business parts? And I thought this class would be more fun, but now I’m just thinking that I should hire a business person and let them work it all out you know?”

“That sounds like a really good idea, David. I like it and I think it has a lot of potential. Plus it sounds like you’re passionate about it, which is good. I think you should keep this store in mind when you study for this class. Do you have any name ideas?”

“I’m oscillating between a few, but I think my favorite is Rose Apothecary.”

“I like it. It’s just pretentious enough.”

“Would we call it pretentious? Or timeless?”

Patrick smiles. “Right. So, when you’re studying for this class, try to apply the concepts to Rose Apothecary. So take profit margins. If you wanted your store to make a profit, you would need to sell things regularly and usually at a higher markup value in order to get profits. Does that make sense?”

David nods along. “Actually, yeah it does. You’re really good at this. Studying. Helping. Thank you.”

“Of course. I’m glad it’s working. Okay, let’s move on to the next thing: sweat equity.”

“That’s like if I got someone to help me unbox products and instead of paying them money, I would just let them take one of the bottles of body milk or something.”

“Exactly! But, uh, what’s body milk? Do you drink it?”

“What? No, oh my God Patrick it’s like milk, but for your body. Like a type of lotion, so no, I don’t think you would drink it, and I think anyone with a fiber of common sense would know that if they were looking at the actual product.”

“Okay, David.”

\--

The next few hours flew by quicker than either one of them expected. 

“Hey, are you hungry? We’ve studied for a while. We should get some dinner or something,” Patrick says.

“You should know that I will literally never turn down food, but I can go if we’re done studying. I know hanging out with me for a few hours is a lot.”

“No, I’m having fun. Unless you want to go?”

“It depends on what you were thinking for dinner.” This draws a smile out of both of them.

“How’s pizza?”

“I will never say no to pizza. Can we order in? My brain hurts from all the studying and just want to watch something and eat an insane amount of pizza in peace.”

“Sure. What do you like? I can call it in and you can find something for us to watch.”

“I’ll eat anything. I’m easy either way.”

“So anchovies and extra onions then?”

David groans and tries to glare at Patrick, but the corner of his lips betray him and turn up. “I hate you, I really do. Pepperoni is fine.”

“Okay, David. Here’s the remote.”

Patrick moves into the kitchen and David settles on the couch flipping through the channels and enjoying the sound of Patrick’s voice as he orders an extra-large pepperoni pizza.

“It should be here soon. Did you find anything to watch?” Patrick asks as he sits on the other end of the small couch. David tries not to frown when he notices how far apart they seem. 

“Well, one of my favorite movies is up next on this channel, but obviously we don’t have to watch it if you don’t want to.”

“What movie is it?”

“Miss Congeniality. It has Sandra Bullock and I know the whole beauty pageant thing probably isn’t your thing, but she’s also like this badass FBI agent.”

“It sounds interesting. Plus, it’s one of your favorites. Let’s watch it.”

“Okay, but if you hate it could you just not tell me? Because it’s great and I want to watch it.”

“Okay, David. Do you want anything before it starts? I know we just ordered pizza, but we have popcorn if you want it.”

“Nothing can spoil my appetite, so I feel like the full popcorn with the movie experience is a must.”

“Agreed,” Patrick says as he stands from the couch and once again moves to the kitchen. 

It doesn’t take long for Patrick to make the popcorn, and when he returns he also has a glass of water for each of them. He sits closer to David on the couch and places the popcorn between them as the movie starts.

\--

It starts storming halfway through the movie, but neither of them pay much attention to the weather, too focused on the movie, the food, and the company. By the time the movie is over, the storm has worsened.

“Hey, it looks like it’s storming pretty bad. Do you just want to stay here tonight? You could take the couch, or I could take the couch and you could take my bed.”

“I don’t want to be an imposition.”

“Not at all. The storm’s really bad and I don’t want you to have to walk across campus with weather like this. You’re welcome to stay, but you’re also welcome to leave.”

David takes a moment to consider, nodding his head once slowly, then two more times quickly. “Sure, I can take the couch. I don’t want to kick you out of your room.”

“Yeah, I’ll go get some blankets. You can use one of my pillows.”

They both go through their bedtime routines and Patrick leaves out an extra pair of sweats and a shirt for David. The whole outfit probably costs less than $20, but somehow it’s the softest thing David has ever worn. The clothes even smell like Patrick which causes David to smile stupidly into the shirt. Patrick makes the couch for David and his brain stops working when David steps out of the bathroom in his clothes.

“Hey Patrick?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you. For everything. The studying, the movie, the pizza, the place to sleep. It means a lot.”

“Of course. I’ll leave my door open in case you need anything. Goodnight David.”

“Goodnight Patrick.”

David tries to fall asleep, he really does, but all he can think about is Patrick. He drifts off thinking of kind eyes and soft curls.

\--

He’s not sure how long he’s been asleep when he’s being woken up by someone sitting on him.

“Oh! Sorry man, I didn’t see you there.”

It’s one of Patrick’s roommates, David’s sure of that, but he just doesn’t know which one. He doesn’t care. He checks his phone but it’s only midnight. David rolls over but the roommate is still there, just looking at him.

“Do you mind if I play a game? The system’s out here.”

“Hng, yeah, sure, I’ll just sleep with Patrick,” David mumbles as he grabs the blankets and heads into Patrick’s room. It’s dark and David’s eyes are only partially open.

“Patrick?” David whispers into the dark and walks towards what he hopes is Patrick’s bed. He repeats his name, a little louder this time. He hears Patrick stir.

“David? Are you okay?’

“Yeah, just your roommate wanted to play a game or something and can I sleep in here? I can sleep on the floor or-”

“Yeah, course, come on.” Patrick must be half asleep too, but so is David, so he doesn’t question it and instead walks right over to Patrick’s voice and climbs into the small bed. Before he can realize what’s happening, Patrick is pulling him closer and nuzzling into David’s back. “You’re comfy. Goodnight David.” Both of them fall back asleep without a care in the world.

\--

David is warm. Almost impossibly so. But it’s not uncomfortable. It feels good. Comfortable. His arm is holding something soft and warm and all he can smell is Patrick. Patrick. Fuck. His eyes fling open and nope, he didn’t dream it. He’s in Patrick’s bed. He’s practically on top of Patrick. He’s too scared to look at the other boy, so instead, he closes his eyes and presses his face into Patrick’s chest and _fuck_ that wasn’t the right move because now he’s surrounded by him and his chest is so nice but it’s also shaking? David risks a glance at Patrick’s face and sees him already awake, looking right at David and laughing.

“What the fuck is so funny at this hour?” David groans as he flops his head back onto Patrick’s chest. He might as well savor the moment while he has it. Patrick’s voice is soft when he speaks.

“You. This. I never-- I thought I was dreaming last night.”

“Fuck, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to happen, but then-”

“David, it’s fine, really. You’re really comfortable. I just wasn’t expecting it. And your hair is a mess.”

“What? Oh my god,” David moves to get out of bed but Patrick holds him still.

“I’m kidding. Please stay.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. You’re comfy and I’m still tired.”

“Okay.” David lets out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding as he settles back against Patrick’s chest. “You’re comfy too. I definitely prefer this to the couch.” David doesn’t know why he said that. He blames to early morning and lack of caffeine.

Patrick’s reply is soft, barely louder than a whisper. “Me too.”

Before long, his breathing evens out and David finds himself drifting back to sleep.

\--

The next time David wakes up by Patrick lightly shaking him awake.

“David, wake up. Are you hungry?”

“Food?”

David is fully woken up by Patrick’s chest shaking as he laughs. “Yeah, food. Do you want some?”

“Pancakes.”

“How many?”

“Four.”

“Okay, but I have to get up if you want me to make the pancakes.”

David tightens his hold on Patrick and shakes his head. “No. Stay. Food later.”

He can feel Patrick playing with his hair and he secretly loves it. He finds himself smiling into Patrick’s chest.

“Come on. Let’s get up. We should talk about things anyways.”

David feels his body tense and his smile fades and he moves suddenly to get away from Patrick.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what I was doing I was just-”

“Woah, David, wait,” Patrick says as he reaches for David’s hand and pulls him back to him. “God, no, not like that. I’ve wanted this for a while. I just meant to talk about like what this means I guess?”

“Oh.” David relaxes slightly when Patrick intertwines their fingers together.

“Yeah. Sorry about that. this is all just very new to me and I don’t want to mess this up before I even get to kiss you.”

“Oh,” David says again because apparently that’s all he can say when his mind is whirling a hundred miles an hour with _Did he just say he wants to kiss me?_

“Unless you don’t want that and this was just like a sleeping thing, I get that, I just-”

“You want to kiss me?”

“Yes?”

“Well, why don’t you?”

“Because I don’t know if that’s what you want too.”

“Of course I want to kiss you. God, I’ve wanted to kiss you since like the first day of class and-”

Patrick wastes no time in closing the distance between them. It’s soft, just the press of lips, but it’s perfect. Patrick pulls away first. “Wait, since the first day? Like the first time you saw me or what?” He’s smiling and obviously teasing, but now that he’s kissed him all David wants to do is keep kissing Patrick.

He whispers out a quick “Pretty much,” before he’s grabbing Patrick’s face and bringing their lips together again. They’re both smiling but it’s still perfect and David can’t imagine a time where he doesn’t want to kiss Patrick Brewer.


	2. two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a small Patrick introspection

Patrick doesn’t know how he got to this moment. If you had told him on the first day of class that the boy who showed up late would be waking up cuddled against his chest he would have laughed. Because it was improbable. He wasn’t into guys, right? But something about this feels right. It feels easy. Like Patrick was meant to spend his life waking up with a beautiful boy cuddled into him. He takes a deep breath and settles his beating heart. He strokes his fingers through David’s hair and smiles when he leans into the touch.

Although this feeling is new, Patrick isn’t scared. He feels calm. Almost as if his entire life shifted into place when David walked into his life. Patrick doesn’t believe in love at first sight, he really doesn’t, but he can’t deny that there’s something between the two of them. He’s spent the last few weeks thinking only of David. Wondering what his overly complicated coffee order that makes him late is. Wondering what it would feel like to kiss him goodbye after class. To pull him closer to his body and just hold him.

Patrick didn’t think much about his feelings for David. He knew he had found the other boy fascinating. That he would think about kissing him. But he figured that’s how every other guy felt. You can think about kissing other boys and not be gay, right? He would date girls in high school because it was expected of him but it never felt like anything special. He followed routine. Got drunk, did something dumb, kissed a girl, bit his tonuge, did what he was told. Sure, he thought about the boys around him. His best friend Matt was beautifully shy and he wanted to wrap him in his arms and protect him from the world. The star of the baseball team always smelled incredible and Patrick would wonder what his lips would taste like. Brief fantasies that never lasted long. It wasn’t until David strolled into class five minutes late that Patrick thought about acting on his feelings. Whatever he felt was too strong to just let it pass him by. So he befriended David and watched as he let his guard down more and more as the weeks passed by and Patrick’s desire to kiss him just kept growing.

And he did. Kiss him. And it was incredible. Patrick didn’t realize that kissing could be like _this_. That just the soft press of lips could make him feel like he was burning from the inside out. That he could finally relate to the firework-inducing first kisses you hear about in stories. Patrick didn’t know kissing could feel so _right_ until he started kissing David Rose.

He feels David stir against him and he can’t help the smile that appears on his face.

“What time is it?”

“A little after noon. You fell asleep again.”

“Not m’ fault. So comfy.”

“Come on, are you hungry?”

“Hmm. Food.”

Patrick laughs softly, extremely fond of the boy in his arms. “Yeah, food. Do you want some?”

“Kiss first?”

“If you insist,” Patrick smirks.

David smiles up at him before he leans in and brushes their lips together. It’s quick, but Patrick melts into it. He can get used to this.

**Author's Note:**

> twitter: sapphicstories  
> tumblr: patricksdavid


End file.
